Friday, May 8

This is one of the most widely seen "not-on-DVD" Horror flicks available so I figured I'd just encapsulate my opinion. I'm sure most reading have seen this one at one time or another. I waited all this time to see it and didn't pick up any of the DVD editions to pop up abroad. I'm glad I didn't and grabbed the VHS dirt cheap since this one is pretty mediocre.

First, yes, the film absolutely butchers Lovecraft's works, but that's minor in the face of the loopy quality throughout. The wraparound and first story are promising with the appearance of Cthulhu in big slimy fashion by the effects work of Screaming Mad George. The second story drags like a sloth in quicksand on a blisteringly hot day, but "sometimes genre visitor" David Warner (The Omen, Waxwork) appears. Brian Yuzna goes apeshit in the last story, seemingly piling on crazy imagery merely to keep upping the ante, and Don Calfa's performance is nothing special. Then the wraparound gets infected and wraps the film up on a similarly outlandish note.

Shame really, the investors should have backed a film that focused on being a more faithful adaption of The Call of Cthulu and dumped the rest.